The Ultimate Guide To Revel and Earning Maximum Points

Ever seen a bright blue Tesla whipping around in New York City? Revel, which started as an electric moped rental service, has since expanded to offering rideshares and is a solid alternative to Uber, Lyft, or even yellow cabs.

The company differentiates itself by using all-electric Teslas and hiring its drivers as Revel employees — rather than using independent contractors. Best of all, Revel offers lower fares that undercut its competitors. You can often find a great deal when catching a ride to (or from) New York’s 3 airports.

Previously on a waitlist-only basis, anyone in New York City can now download the Revel app, sign up, and request a rideshare, as confirmed by a media spokesperson for the company.

Sound too good to be true? Whether you’re a New Yorker or are traveling to the Big Apple anytime soon, here’s everything you should know about Revel!

Where Does Revel Operate?

Headquartered in Brooklyn, Revel offers electric moped vehicles for rent in New York City and San Francisco. However, Revel’s Tesla rideshare services are only available in all of New York City and parts of New Jersey at this time.

Revel has expanded its operating zones recently and now serves all 3 of the greater New York City area airports: LaGuardia Airport (LGA) and John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) in Queens, and Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) in New Jersey.

It’s important to know that all pick-ups and drop-offs must occur in the operating zones shown above. Plus, Revel only supports rides between New Jersey and New York City, but not for rides within New Jersey.

6 Things To Know About Revel (And How To Save Money!)

While living in New York, Revel has become one of my favorite rideshare services — particularly when I’m headed to the airport. But when I’m in a rush, Revel isn’t always the most reliable. Here are the 6 things to know before ordering a Revel.

1. You’ll Enjoy a Consistent Experience

Every single Revel car is an all-electric blue Tesla Model Y or Model 3, making them easy to find and quite comfortable. Not only are the cars nice and new, but you can fit up to 4 passengers in a Revel car (3 in the back, 1 in the front), and enjoy heated seats and a glass roof. Plus, Revel promises to clean and detail its cars every 24 hours.

Service animals are allowed, but Revel does not allow pets. Finally, if you’ve got infants or young children, you must bring your own car seat.

2. Revel Offers Reasonable Pricing

Revel uses a fare algorithm that factors in the current traffic conditions, total distance, and any city-mandated fees to offer pricing on a demand basis in the app. However, the price excludes additional tolls or airport pick-up and drop-off fees, which New York-area airports are notoriously prone to.

If you want the exact breakdown, Revel charges:

• A fixed fee of $3 to hail the ride
• A $1.60 per-mile charge
• A $0.72 per-minute rate

You’ll be charged a $5 cancellation fee if you cancel after 3 minutes of calling the ride or a $5 no-show fee if you do not arrive at your pick-up within 5 minutes.

That said, Revel rides are often much more reasonable compared to its competitors — and much more transparent. Compare that to the long list of fees for Uber, which doesn’t disclose the exact amount for the booking fees, service fees, tolls and surcharges, and more. On top of all that, surge pricing applies during especially high-demand periods!

Below, we’ve compared a few rides that Revel offers at the time of writing (a Friday afternoon — admittedly a congested period to call any rideshare service):

	Uber	Lyft	Revel
West Village to Midtown	$30.91	$31.99	$28.03
West Village to Williamsburg	$28.99	$27.91	$22.39
West Village to Newark (EWR)	$85.90	$80.99	$75.61
West Village to LaGuardia (LGA)	$52.92	$48.99	$46.48
West Village to John F. Kennedy (JFK)	$101.92	$97.99	$85.61

Most times, but certainly not in all cases, Revel offers the lowest prices. A few weeks ago, I was headed to John F. Kennedy Airport (JFK) at 5:30 a.m. While I try to take public transportation when I can, I always take a rideshare when it’s that early. My Revel ride was priced out to be “just” $60, which felt like pre-pandemic prices to me. Meanwhile, Lyft and Uber were charging almost $100.

However, Revel isn’t perfect in all cases.

3. Wait Times Can Be Long

Revel has just announced that it is now operating services 24/7.

However, wait times can be longer than Uber or Lyft, as Revel’s services aren’t as robust. But in my experience, I’ve never had to wait for more than 10 to 15 minutes for a car. I’ll always compare prices across all 3 apps before making my ultimate decision, but the cost savings are usually worth the wait if I’m not in an immediate rush to be somewhere.

Hot Tip:

Be sure to call your Revel ride when you’re just about to disembark from the plane. Airport rides in New York City usually take longer due to traffic, and I’ve always timed it wonderfully — and with a few minutes to spare from curbside pickup.

4. Some Features Are Missing

Revel doesn’t offer the ability to schedule your ride or add multiple stops like you can with Uber or Lyft. Furthermore, there’s no option to share the ride with your friends or family, which is a great safety feature that comes with other apps.

Hopefully, these updates will come to Revel soon!

5. Revel Offers a Referral Program

As Revel is still in its growth phase, it’s offering a lucrative referral program to invite your friends to try out the app and ride at a discount.

Your friends will receive $20 toward their first ride, and you’ll get a $20 credit after they ride. You can enter the promo code under the Redeem promo code tab in the app’s menu after you sign up.

6. You May Receive Coupons

Revel will oftentimes send great coupons that can help save even more on my rides. I notice that I’ll get targeted for discounts if I haven’t used Revel in a few weeks.

Keep your eyes peeled for discounts in your email or turn push notifications on with your Revel app. The discounts will apply automatically to the price of your next rides.

Earn Maximum Points or Cash-back With Revel

You’ll want to pay with a credit card that earns bonus rewards on rideshare services. Unlike Uber or Lyft, which maintains various partnerships with credit card companies (including American Express and Chase), or travel loyalty programs (including Delta SkyMiles and Marriott Bonvoy) to offer bonus points, Revel flies solo for now.

The good news is that Revel codes as a travel merchant on your statement credit, so several cards are good contenders to maximize your purchase.

Chase Ultimate Rewards Credit Cards

Chase’s travel bonus category for the Chase Sapphire Reserve^® and the Chase Sapphire Preferred^® Card is broad. It encompasses everything from airlines to hotels to rideshare services (including Revel) to toll and parking fees.

With the Chase Sapphire Reserve card, you’ll earn 3x Ultimate Rewards points per dollar spent on all Revel rides.

Meanwhile, the Chase Sapphire Preferred card offers 2x points per dollar spent on travel, including Revel.

Capital One Miles Credit Cards

Furthermore, any of Capital One’s travel rewards cards are great options for earning bonus miles on everyday purchases like Revel. With the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card and the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card, you’ll earn 2x Capital One miles per dollar spent on all purchases, including Revel rideshares. Meanwhile, the Capital One VentureOne Rewards Credit Card earns 1.25x Capital One miles per dollar spent on all purchases.

You can redeem your Capital One miles as a statement credit toward travel purchases made within 90 days at 1 cent per mile. If you want to offset the cost of your Revel rides, you can redeem 2,500 miles for a $25 ride, 5,000 miles for a $50 ride, and so forth.

Final Thoughts

Revel is a fantastic alternative to shake up the competition in New York City, where it feels like it can cost you an arm and a leg just to ride down a few blocks. Besides lower prices, an all-electric fleet also means lower carbon emissions. Hopefully, the service will continue to grow to improve wait times or move into new U.S. cities.